I want to stop using one drive - how do I ensure all my files are on my computer

[KatyMac]

That's it basically

I want it all on the laptop and then I want to start again from the beginning only uploading what is important

You can just highlight the files and drag them on to your desktop. If you have them in folders then you can just drag the entire folder on. When you delete the files from onedrive, you have to delete any in a folder before you can delete the actual folder (if that makes sense). To put the files back to onedrive, just drag them back again. Goodluck

But how do I stop the syncing?

I have to download files and photos to use them and it is driving me mad

I use onedrive on my work computer and it doesn't sync so that must be something you actually gave permission for when setting it up. If you go to settings, you should be able to disable it. A quick Google of the question brought up step by step directions that will be more concise than mine. If you struggle with ict, then Google 'stop onedrive syncing desktop' then hit the video tab and you can watch someone do it. I always find that easier than reading!

If you do this, think about what other backup system you want, because everything that is on the hard drive only is at risk of being lost if there's a crash.

If you automatically save to the hard drive, it's easy to forget to put one or two or twenty precious pictures / documents, or a major work-in-progress onto OneDrive, and it can be a bit of a disaster.

I think the problem is that the whole thing gets synced when I start the computer

So what I want to do is unsync the long term older stuff I need to keep but don't want

Have a section I back up weekly

And then have only the files I am working on being backed up in real time

The laptop spends its whole energy syncing and I am sure it shouldn't

If you right click on the one drive files and folders it gives you option to sync or not. You can set files / folders to sync automatically or just when you access them.

@handmademitlove is that on the laptop or in the browser

I think if I do that I hide the file/folder in One Drive

I want to delete some files/folders on One Drive but keep them on my laptop - have I misunderstood?

you can keep files on onedrive but not on your laptop. If you want to keep files on your laptop but not on onedrive, you just create a new folder somewhere which is not in the onedrive folder and copy the files across. Beware that they will no longer be backed up - it is wise to keep a copy elsewhere, perhaps a USB stick or drive.

I've worked out what I have done wrong (I think)
My obedrive has a folder called documents with all the folders inside....same as my computer

But I actually only need some of the folders in there not all of them backed up

So I think I do t want "documents" on one drive just some of the contents

& I have no idea how to fix it

Firstly, change the name of the folder on onedrive so there is less confusion! You can just move the folders around so those you want on onedrive are in the onedrive folder and those you want only locally are somewhere else on your computer.

When you open file explorer can you see the one drive folder clearly labelled as such?

Yes I can see the files on the laptop

Could it be as easy as changing the name on onedrive....goodness !